Fauschnaught Day

Today Fauschnaught Day (also known as Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, etc.) and the last day before the Christian season of Lent. The historical basis of the day is to use up the rich foods (fats, dairy products) in your home before Lent, a 40-day period of personal reflection and fasting before Easter, begins.

My family's roots are very German / PA Dutch, so we eat doughnuts in celebration of the day. Fauschnaught Day has taken on new meaning to me in the last few years since my Grandma passed away. It was her tradition to spend the day at home making homemade doughnuts for the family (20+ people). Several of my aunts and cousins would take off work and school to help in this large and messy project. Because my extension of the family lives two hours away from everyone else, Grandma would freeze our allotment - we generally received them Easter weekend. Even when they weren't fresh, they were delicious and unlike any doughnut you could buy in the stores.

I was lucky enough to participate in the doughnut-making festivities the last year Grandma was healthy enough to do it. (I happened to be taking some entry tests at Penn State right before graduating from high school so I could justify the day off school).

As silly as it may sound, this day has become somewhat of a memorial to Grandma since her passing. I always make sure to buy some fauschnaughts for my family in her honor and generally get a little emotional in doing so. But what a sweet tradition she has passed on to us! I can't wait to do it with my own kids some day.